UN investigators accuse Russia of ‘horrible treatment’ of Ukrainian prisoners of war, civilians

UN investigators have accused Russian authorities of ignoring basic human rights principles and inflicting appalling treatment on Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians, causing them untold suffering.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine submitted its latest report to the United Nations Human Rights Council this week. Investigators have provided a shocking description of “violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law and corresponding war crimes” committed by Russia in areas of Ukraine under its control.

At a press conference in Geneva on Friday, committee chairman Eric Moses said the report focused on the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war and described the “horrible treatment” of prisoners of war in several detention facilities across the Russian Federation.

He said the new evidence “reinforces the committee’s previous findings that the use of torture by Russian authorities in Ukraine and the Russian Federation is widespread and systematic.” …Victims’ accounts reveal the ruthless, brutal conditions they were subjected to during lengthy detentions. Cruel treatment, causing severe pain and suffering, and a blatant disregard for human dignity. This results in long-term physical and mental trauma,” he said.

Commission Chairman Moses told reporters that Russian authorities had received the report and had an opportunity to comment on the draft.

“We note with regret that the Russian side has not responded to any of the drafts we sent them during the reporting period and has not done so this time,” he said.

The committee will formally present the report at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday. Russia has the right to respond but has often boycotted such meetings in the past.

The report covers the period from April 2023 to March 2024. During this period, the Commission traveled to Ukraine 16 times, visited 34 settlements in 9 provinces and interviewed 816 people.

torture accusations

Moss said the committee reviewed credible reports of torture in 11 detention facilities, seven in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine and four in the Russian Federation.

Prisoners of war at the centers were “beaten, verbally abused and had electronic devices used on body parts,” he said, adding that the images that emerged from the way they were treated over time “allow us to exploit the word horrific.”

The report documents incidents of rape and other sexual violence against women “under circumstances that also amount to torture.” It also details incidents of “sexualized dimensions” of torture and rape threats against male prisoners of war under the control of prison guards.

“There have also been incidents of touching certain body parts of male prisoners, which is considered very insulting,” committee member Vrinda Grover said.

She said the committee found that Russian soldiers raped and sexually assaulted girls and women aged 15 to 83 during house searches, often “in the presence of family members.”

“These are violations of international human rights and war crimes of rape and sexual violence,” she said.

Mariupol

The report also assesses the severe impact on civilians of the three-month siege of Mariupol, which began on February 24, 2022, the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Residents have described unbearable suffering amid relentless shelling and airstrikes that have caused widespread death, injury and destruction,” Moss said.

He said interviewees recalled seeing large numbers of bodies in the streets.

“One woman who fled on foot to a neighboring village described it as a path to death, expressing a general sense of fear,” he said.

For the first time, the committee has documented raids and confiscations of artifacts by Russian authorities affecting cultural property. In one case, Russian authorities transferred artifacts from the Kherson Regional Art Museum to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

“The committee concluded that the Russian authorities violated international humanitarian law regarding cultural property and committed the war crime of seizing enemy property,” Grover said.

child transfer

One of the most emotional issues facing the Ukrainian people is Russia’s forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to areas under its control. The Ukrainian government estimates that some 20,000 children have been brought from Ukraine to Russia, granted Russian citizenship, and adopted by Russian families.

The committee said its investigation had uncovered “additional evidence of the illegal transfer of children to Russian-controlled areas”. In the current report, the committee focused on the cases of 46 children from Ukraine.

“On October 21, 2022, by order of the Russian authorities” to a children’s home in the Kherson region of Crimea.

Grover said the committee concluded that the transfer to Crimea “was not temporary and therefore constituted the war crime of illegal transfer.”